Money or Happiness Essay

The general belief is that the rich tend to pamper their children by buying them all sorts of â€Å"toys†, while the poorer children do not do this because they cannot afford to. It is usually presented in stories- especially in movies – that rich children are bad while those from poorer families struggle all their lives. Consequently it may be believed that children from rich families are happier than those from poorer ones. This may be the case in some instances, but is definitely not always true. Children can be happy whether they are from rich or poor families. We hear of cases where poor families make all sorts of sacrifices so that their children – or one of them – can have a certain comfort. Fathers are known to work at extra jobs so that their children can have expensive toys for Christmas or for their birthdays. On the other hand, the children of the rich are not always given everything they want. Rich fathers are known to make their children work for a living and earn their pocket money. Other fathers have refused to give their children expensive toys so that they will learn the value of hard work. Hence it is not the riches of the parents that can make the children happy but what the parents do to the child. Happiness can never be equated with having money or having rich parents for that matter. It is possible that poor parents have a close relationship with their child. In this way the child has something far better; it has love. Having enough love, the child will be happy – at least much happier than if it did not receive love. On the other hand it is possible that the child of rich parents have everything she wants but does not get the love and concern that she needs. The parents of rich children are sometimes too busy spending their money and earning more. Often we hear stories of â€Å"poor little rich children†. Though many of the stories we hear are fiction, some of them are real indeed. Sometimes the parents of rich children believe that their child will be happy if he is provided with everything he needs. They try to substitute money for love and care. In such instances, the rich child can be very happy indeed. In addition, children brought up in this way tend to be very poor in relationships. They do not know how to value things like friendships. Such a child is poor indeed, in spite of being financially rich. Using money and surrounding himself with all sorts of toys the child is apt to grow up with the wrong sense of what is true happiness. Then one day when he realizes that money does not always buy happiness, he will not know which way to turn. Hence children from rich families may not always be happier than those from poorer families. In fact both are capable of being happy, with or without money.

Banned Books Essay

Banned books are becoming more current in this day of time. People often do not understand the challenge of books or why a book is being banned. Ken Petrilli, the author of â€Å"Banned Books Week: Celebrating You (and Celebrating Your (and Your Teens! ) Freedom to Read† in the Young Adult Library Services summer of 2009, talks about how he understand, how the parents feel about some books being banned. He also advised ways to make displays for banned books week. Petrilli is a teen service librarian, a musician, and serves on the YALSA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. â€Å"To Read or Not to Read: Understanding Book Censorship† by Deborah Connelly, was published in the Community and Junior College Libraries in the year of 2009. In Connelly’s article, she wants people to know what book censorship means and how librarians deal with people who want to challenge books. In both articles each writer gives a description of why books are banned. Petrilli’s article has less information but his credibility comes from his services as being a librarian and serving on the YALSA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. Connelly’s article has more information but nowhere in her article is her credibility. However, by analyzing both of the articles neither Petrilli nor Connelly’s articles are scholarly. In the article Ken Petrilli’s â€Å"Banned Books Week Celebrating You (and Your Teens! ) Freedom to Read† article is to be read by young adult and their parents, and other librarians. Young adults often wonder why their parents or other groups will not allow them to read certain types of books. He state, â€Å"As teen and young adult librarian; we are on the frontline of intellectual freedom issues more than anyone else in our profession. †(Petrilli 4) While on the other hand parents do not agree with the materials and content that is in the book that their young adult reads. Where he states â€Å"Parents concerned about what their children are reading. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing: we want to see parents who are concerned! † (Petrilli 4) In Deborah Connelly’s article â€Å"To Read or Not to Read: Understanding Book Censorship†, talks about how people should have the right to read. Connelly states â€Å"While history shows that there are those that try to suppress the right to read, there are also those that have worked tirelessly to preserve it. †(Connelly 84) In challenging and banning books many parents often ban so that their child cannot read a book with rudely contents; it should be up to the parent to make that decision for their child or young adult to read a certain book. Not to ban the book from the whole community. Connelly states â€Å"Many of these statements deal with parents being the ultimate role model and advocate in what they feel is right for their child and how to empower their child to make decisions based on their values in regards to what they read. ( ALA2008) (Connelly 86) When a book that is being Challenged mostly parents or specific groups, the books are sometimes banned because they may have seen or heard that the challenged book may have a little sexual content, profane words, or unmorally things in its context. The parents or groups who challenged these books do not fully read the materials to get the full understanding. Connelly suggests reading the books before a parent or group challenges the book because there are a couple of words that they do not agree with. Connelly states â€Å"Many times those that consider banning a book do so without examining the work. (Jocelyn Chadwick 2000)(Connelly87) According to Petrilli in his article he sympathizes with the parents who have had some parent and groups who had some books banned. He clearly states that, â€Å"I think it is important for us to remember not to overtly demonize most potential challengers. They are, after all, people just like us, and being concerned for our children’s well-being is never wrong. † (Petrilli 4) Petrilli also wants to support the Banned Books Week, by giving suggestions on how to display the library and to have discussions about banned books. He states â€Å"What I do is important and the fighting for our collections and our teen patrons is a battle. (Petrilli 5) Petrilli feels that people who challenged books because they feel as if these books with the explicit details or will corrupt the minds of their young adults. He states â€Å"This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen. †(Petrilli 4) Connelly believes that during the challenges of banning a book, a librarian has a big role to play. First the librarian has to face the issues of day to day of book challenges and to insure they know the policy. Connelly states, â€Å"The librarian of today is still faced with controversial issues regarding politics and religious connation within books or any other materials are challenged, these policies will be on place to refer to as a bases for the selection. † (Connelly85) Connelly also believes that if the Office for Intellectual Freedom did not create a policy for the American Library Association there will be a few books that will not be banned today due to all the books that were banned years ago. People will be limited to what they can read. The freedom of reading would vanish. In her article she stated â€Å"The Freedom to read contains seven propositions, each one as important as the other. † She also states, â€Å"To truly feel the passion and thought placed behind these propositions, one must read them. †(Connelly 84) She also suggests that the librarians should know what to do when a book comes up to be challenged. The librarian has to be professional and also opened mined as well when it comes to a parent or group challenging a book or materials. Although librarians have a great deal of responsibility, Connelly states â€Å"A librarian must keep in mind the diverse patronage of their establishment and provide materials that are accessible to everyone. † (Connelly 85) Connelly also lets her readers know that if he or she are going to challenge a book then he or she should also know the guidelines. A person just cannot go a say â€Å"I want this book banned† or â€Å"Take this book off the shelf because it is inappropriate for my child or young adult to read. † There is a process the challenger has to fill out forms, have names of those who assist. Then state the reason why the book or material is being challenged. Connelly also advised her readers that there might be some legal issues in giving young adult sexually explicit materials. So the readers might want to check in their state to find out the laws about simply giving some that is not of age, sexual explicit materials. Connelly states â€Å"An Oregon law was passed that â€Å"criminalizes the dissemination of sexually explicit material to anyone under the age 13and ect. †(Connelly 86) Petrilli casually, lets his readers know that even though there is a banned books week, that there are still going to be a deal of banned books challenges. And books will be banned. Petrilli states â€Å"Never forget that potential challengers are out there and some are motivated by fervent religious or potential beliefs. † (Petrilli 5) By Petrilli being employed as a young adult and teen service librarian he has hands on experience with having books or materials challenged. In the beginning of the article Petrilli gives a brief description of what Banned Books week is. He says that, â€Å"Banned Books Week is observed the last week of September each year and it has been observed every year since 1982. †(Petrilli 4) Petrilli also lets the book challengers know that equal opportunity and access should be the readers right. It should not be because the challenger is not pleased with it. In Petrilli’s article he states â€Å"We provide equal access for anyone to whatever it is they are looking to read: and that includes the teens we works with every day. (Ptetrilli 5) Petrilli also is persuading his readers to participate in Banned Books week as a librarian Petrilli wants his readers to support this event. To Pertilli it is imperative that parents, young adults, and groups so he or she can become more comfortable with their freedom to read or to learn and understand why some books and materials are being challenged and banned from the community. Connelly wants readers to know, that librarians are not against all books being challenged. She states, â€Å"Librarians are not the only member of need to protect the Freedom to Read. †(Connelly 86) She goes on and states â€Å"Lastly, the most underused but most influential tool that librarians have in dealing with book controversy is their own voices. †(Connelly 85) Connelly also wants the challengers to maybe rethink his or her intent to challenge a book. She clearly states, â€Å"All in all, censorship is based on fear and emotions. † (Connelly87) Connelly also states â€Å"Knowledge is the key to understanding. † (Connelly87) In the article Connelly shared that there was a little stir-up about the book that was banned and removed from several libraries which was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This book was said that was banned due to the content of the n used several times in the story. Connelly used this in her article for a perfect example of book banishment. She stated â€Å"†it is easy to see how this could upset people to the point of removing this book from schools. † (Connelly 86) Connelly points out to the audience, that the assistant professor at Harvard University, Jocelyn Chadwick had studied Mark Twain’s work for years. She wanted to get a full understanding of his book. Since people was upset about the book because of the n word was so offended that it never appeared to them that the book was scene was written for the time frame that Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was based on. It seems like Connelly agrees with Jocelyn Chadwick she quote, â€Å"There are countless resources available to the community that provide information about censorship (pro or against), litigations, organizations, and other useful materials that can assist people to make better informed decisions about questionable literature. (Connelly 87) In the two articles that have been analyzed, through the types of claim, that Petrilli is proposing that it is to the challengers and non- challengers benefit to attend a Banned Books week at his or her nearest library. Connelly suggests that before a person challenge a book read the book form beginning to end, to understand the book better to get the feeling of emotions when reading the book. Who knows the book might not be all that damaging. The rhetorical triangle of Petrilli’s article had the Emotional appeal. Connelly’s passage was that of more of and logical appeal. The writing style for Petrilli’s article was unbiased and casual. Whereas for Connelly’s writing stlye was biased where she want people to understand what book banning really is. Neither Petrilli’s nor Connelly’s articles is scholarly. There was not enough information in Petrilli’s article and there was no credibility in Connelly’s article.

Technology and Plagiarism

Widespread technology and communication has made both plagiarism and the detection of it easier than ever before. In the competitive field of journalism, integrity and individuality plays a massive role. The ethics of writing in a world where writing is an exponentially growing area of work are essential. In the field of journalism, writers must act according to the subject’s code of ethics. â€Å"Truthfulness, accuracy, and objectivity† (Journalism Ethics and Standards) are important characteristics that each journalist must follow. A journalistic piece must meet these indisputable standards – after all, the main idea behind journalism is to deliver the truth. There have been many cases of misconduct and disobedience of the journalistic code of ethics in the past and recent future. Zachery Kouwe, a Times business reporter, was rightly accused of plagiarizing from The Wall Street Journal. After in-depth research into his other pieces of work, plagiarism was apparent in many of his works. The New York Times article called plagiarism a â€Å"journalistic sin† to emphasize the gravity of the issue. Another excellent example of a writer compromising his journalistic integrity can be seen in Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass (2003). This movie, based on a real life story, shows the life of a journalist who’s lost his way and his integrity. Stephen Glass, a former reporter for The New Republic, was caught for a serial fraud in his articles. He fabricated quotations, sources, descriptions, and events in his stories and was eventually fired when his deception came to light. Plagiarism is a common issue for those writers who have lost their integrity. In fair play, written works must be original and accredited. We have the opportunity to use insightful ideas from countless pieces of work. There are written works available in almost every thinkable subject – anywhere from linear algebra to dance ballet. The only requirement for contributing to and taking from the gigantic world of words is integrity. Upholding this honor is the only way to avoid fraud and plagiarism.

CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY - Essay Example Numerous naturalists and every living creatures common sense entitlement activists acknowledge Disney for raising their sympathy toward the earth (Van Riper 181). Anyhow, this gratefulness has not been conveyed in a quality free bundle. From the beginning, Disneys tendency movies have upheld the idea that the characteristic worlds boss quality lies in the benefit that modern culture can remove from it. At first, this backing took the type of straightforward paeans to the honorability of logging, mining and urban improvement. Presently, in the midst of the expanding commodification of everything from tribal myth to basmati rice, the worth removed from nature is the privilege to characterize nature. Disney desires that privilege and will pick up it at our hazard. Very little other than insight into the past recognizes the organizations initial work from its ancestors and rivals. Where nature showed up, it was in its customary part of the destructive danger, or as humanoid cartoon creatures (Van Riper 148). It was not until Bambi (1942) that Disney discovered the structure on which his later nature works would hang. Instead of living clearly human lives, wearing garments, managing a furrow or in charge of a steamboat, the creatures in Bambi were far closer to the genuine article. They were not people; that part was saved for the films scalawag. They were, notwithstanding, individuals. So that the passing of Bambis mom because of the Hunter is plainly killed. Bambi was the model for Disneys later nature work, most outstandingly the Genuine Life Adventures, a progression of what were inexactly alluded to as documentaries, set in environments from the Sonoran Desert to the Canadian tundra (Van Riper 166) Winged Migration (2001) is an outwardly staggering "narrative enterprise" that takes a few groups of feathered creatures on their occasional transitory excursions. Despite the fact that the

Business information system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business information system - Essay Example In this paper we will discuss different aspects of data warehouse. This section will explain four main characteristics of data warehouse. These characteristics give a more clear view of data warehouse. First characteristic of data warehouse is â€Å"Subject Oriented† (Kimball & Ralph 2002), It means data warehouse should be built for a specific subject or domain. It also means that Data that provides information about the concerning topic/ subject instead of organizations ongoing processes. Second characteristic is â€Å"integrated† nature of data warehouse. It Means data that is gathered from different sources are integrated into a single structure. Third characteristic is â€Å"Time-variant†: It means all data that is stored in the data warehouse is recognized with a specific time period. Forth and last characteristic is â€Å"Non-volatile† nature of data warehouse. Data is never deleted from data warehouse. But when it exceeds from a certain level, it is archived and stored at differ places (Kimball & Ralph 2002). There is a question about data warehouse: When data warehouse has data in terabits, then how it can handle such amount of data? The answer is: data warehouse uses parallelism approach to handle such amount of data. By this approach data is divided into small parts and parallel unit of data warehouse store retrieve and process them individually (Inmon 1995). Architecture of data warehouse consists of different logical layers (Inmon 1995). First layer is input or source layer, then processing layer, out put layer, decision support layer, etc. At source layer we have our data sources; these can be data bases, legacy system or data from web. After extracting this data from the source a process of transformation is applied on it to bring it into coherent format. Because data can be extracted from any type of sources, it contains

How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the Essay

How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the self-image of women in the UK - Essay Example ............................................. 5. Conclusion............................................................................................................. REFERENCES LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Female Imagery in the UK Cosmopolitan Magazine................................... Figure 2: High Priced Celebrity Fashion Merchandise Imagery................................. ABSTRACT The UK Cosmopolitan provides many different images of what society considers the idealised female form: the slender, voluptuous and high fashion-conscious celebrity often depicted in many beauty-inspired media sources. Through continuous exposure to these images, women are often embattled with a struggle to gain self-image improvements whereby the idealised female form dictated by media sources provides confidence problems to women who have not attained this socially-mandated goal. Research indicates that UK society often believes overweight women or those who are not as outwardly attractive cannot fi nd success or achievement, thereby creating the foundation for anxiety production when women view these images and believe they are inferior to the models illustrated. Empirical research, psychological and sociological theories, and even marketing theories lend support to the notion that women in the UK are dramatically impacted, in relation to their own perceptions of self-image, due to the UK Cosmopolitan. ... This paper focuses on theory and research investigations in an attempt to justify that self-image is negatively impacted through such media depiction of females. The findings of this project indicate that socially-driven ideals, reference group sentiment, tangible anxiety production in the female brain, and advertising influence supporting visualisation in media of the idealised female body contribute most strongly to self-image problems in UK women. How does the image of women displayed in the Cosmopolitan affect the self-image of women in the UK? 1. Introduction The UK Cosmopolitan consists of a variety of media catering to those who maintain a worldview of hedonism, a form of self-indulgence and high-living whereby contemporary ideologies associated with a sense of social superiority, attainment of personal pleasure, and exhibition of outward elegance and modishness are primary social virtues1. There are many other respected definitions of Cosmopolitanism, such as maintaining a be lief that one belongs to the entire world rather than being limited to a singular, national region, as well as maintaining a contemporary type of sophistication and stylishness which makes one high class and socially exceptional. In the United Kingdom, the media magazine Cosmopolitan is a prime example of the aforementioned definitions of Cosmopolitanism which explores such issues as sex, health, fashion, celebrity and beauty enhancement. This media source, among many others sharing a focus on the female target segments, exemplify the notion of Cosmopolitanism by appealing to a contemporary woman consumer who values social conceptions of beauty, vanity and sophistication. The media is a significant source of influence on female Western values in today’s society, illustrating

Colonialism gave nothing to Africa,expect poverty,famine, disease and Essay

Colonialism gave nothing to Africa,expect poverty,famine, disease and underdevelopment. Discuss - Essay Example The past has been so tragic that the future looks hopeless. Undeniably, the only known fact of African development for the foreseeable future is that underdevelopment and poverty will increase and intensify. The hallmarks of underdevelopment in Africa have been the increase in slums, stagnating agricultural production, widening elite mass gap, increase in diseases, foreign debt, and balance of payments deficit. Underdevelopment scholars have contended that the underemployment of human and natural resources and insufficient development was acquired by African nations as a result of historical circumstances such as colonialism, neo-colonialism and slavery. Colonial history of exploitation and extraction has been attributed the continent’s current status. Boahen (1987: 89) notes that there is no doubt that a huge amount of structural attributes of the process of economic underdevelopment has historical roots that go back to past colonial times. Experimental studies have confirmed that there is a connection between a nation’s past colonial experience and its current level of economic development. According to Cooper (2002: 76), colonization of African nations applied a direct effect on the post-colonial arrays of growth and human and physical capital build-up. This paper will focus on underdevelopment and poverty in Africa providing an account of the ancient roots of Africa’s underdevelopment. It will focus on the period before and during colonialism, and the effects of European colonialism on the development of the region. During the pre-colonial period, African nations had well-established laws, customs, ethics, conventions and rituals, which were particularly effective in resolving issues and conflicts both within and outside the community. These institutions were fruitful in overpowering numerous forms of predatory or rent-seeking behaviour (Boahen, 1987: 91). Rent-seeking behaviours are those acts of exploiting the political process in

Face Of Our Time Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Face Of Our Time - Research Paper Example Similarly, Muholi portrays visually, the identity of the black people that are mostly segregated in her home country - South Africa. Aue Sobol gives a combination of observations that are experienced by hunting culture of the rural community in the Arctic Village with portraits that show intimacy of Sabine, his girlfriend. Finally, Misrach give pictures of the graffiti that were left behind immediately after the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. This paper is going to highlight the common interests that the five photographers had in depicting the actual look of the global happenings and phenomena, as well as what instructed and resonated me. The photographs paint the real picture of the world as it is. The photographs showing situation as it is. The exhibition â€Å"Face of Our Time† is introduced by neatly done picture of an African woman staring at the photographer while her lips are pursed seems to be upset. Her eyes are not clearly seen since they are under some shade, hen ce making it almost impossible to clearly figure out her actual state, or even her real self. However, her mode of living is overtly written on her photograph â€Å"I am a whore† (Curiel). ... It is imperative to note that the photographs are of real people of the world who are in dire need of help. Furthermore, the photographers have mixed feelings about their own photographs. Surprisingly, these photographers are always perturbed by the situation around the globe and they normally take these pictures in order to enlighten the world about certain conditions. The photographers have premonitions that they go against other people’s rights when they take such pictures. Therefore, they tend to think it is not a good idea to photograph volatile political and economic situations. For instance, Goldberg remarks that he is frightened to take pictures because he tends to feel that he is violating people’s rights. He informed the various individuals who came to hear him during the SFOMOMA exhibition that he is afraid to go into the world to take pictures (Curiel). He covers long distances to Africa from San Francisco and actively allows his subjects to participate in h is work by giving them opportunities to write on his otherwise Polaroid pictures. Notably, Goldberg took photographs of the prostitute and a Senegalese farmer who aspired to illegally migrate to Europe due to adverse economic situation in Senegal. The farmer did not get the opportunity to travel to Europe for better economic situation; he ended up landing in Libya and worked as a forced laborer. The photograph depicts a farmer herding his flock in a street full of garbage in Senegal. His experiences are narrated in the horizon. However, even though Goldberg thinks he violates other people’s rights, these people he photographed autographed his pictures, thus showing they allowed

Speech recognition Software Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Speech recognition Software - Research Proposal Example Facilities such as financial institutions in particular have strict rules on personnel clearance. The vaults and financial files and data are only accessible by authorized people. They have, therefore, set up measures to ensure that this security protocol is observed which include the use of security keys and feeding in passwords before accessing certain areas. The problem above is not a new finding, but an issue that is in every financial institution. This has seen innovators and designers come up with solutions that have not solved the problem substantially. There have been inventions such as the use of security cards that are assigned to the various personnel (Clark, 2002, p. 26). These cards are as special keys, where each has a feature that is intended to enable access to certain places to the personnel concerned. They only need someone to swipe the card in a barcode reader at the door and input a password before a door opens. However, the problem with security cards is that they can be stolen or get lost. Criminal or personnel gets his/ her hands on the card and has the knowledge of the password; a security breach can occur, and it may lead to lose of crucial data or even money.Therefore to reduce the risk of lapses in cases where these security cards end up in the wrong hands, putting that power in somebody’s voice is the onl y sure way. The voice of a person activating the opening and closing of a door can go a long way in preventing such breaches. This is because voice recognition does not require any password to be fed to the system and it a persons voice is unique to themselves. Voice recognition is a technology that involves the translation of spoken words into texts. It is an invention that has transformed the way people interacts with technology from simple gadgets like the smart phone to complicated sets as voice controlled military missiles and fighter planes (Clark, 2002, p.59). Voice recognition has offered solutions to many real life issues

Fukushima power plant disaser Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fukushima power plant disaser - Essay Example The events resulted in an explosion and partial nuclear meltdown in three operational reactors of the plant. However, it never caused serious fatalities given the rapid response including evacuation efforts. Even though the disaster never caused many deaths, it comprises of the significant occurrences in the global history. It remains as the biggest nuclear disaster that took the authorities about 14 days to completely shut down the facility and several years to decommission and restore the effects. The collapse began when the tsunami severely damaged three operational reactors in plant number 1 and 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi. Subsequently, the shutdown stopped operations of the site by stopping the backup diesel generators thereby leading to a site blackout. The blackout and tsunami resulted in the failure of seawater pumps thus hindering cooling of the reactors. It then led to the meltdowns in the three primary reactors of the facility. In response, the government issued an evacuation notice for people within the 3-kilometre radius and later 10 km radius because of the magnitude of the challenge (Fukushima Accident). The radiations contaminated the Pacific Ocean water and caused massi ve air pollution. It also led to displacements of people, disruption of the way of life, the decline in the economic activities. The Tokaimura accident in 1999 triggered the development of radiation-resistant robots. However, a task force that included the representatives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) discredited the robots in 2002. Besides, no nation or plant projected the possibility of occurrence of a disaster similar to the Chernobyl. The firms also showed belief in the skilled employees to manage and limit the occurrence of nuclear accidents. Hence, dissolution of radiation robots enhanced Japan’s vulnerabilities and limited the response options to the Fukushima disaster (Lochbaum, Lyman and Stranahan 40). Earlier on, the Tokyo Electric Power

Full Day Kindergarten Essay Example for Free

Full Day Kindergarten Essay Full day kindergarten should be mandatory and of no extra cost for all of the elementary schools. This will boost the children’s academic achievement. The children that are exposed to full day kindergarten will learn more in literacy and mathematics than those in half-day kindergarten. The students that are in a full day program get to spend more time on their math, writing, and reading activities. The full day students also get the advantage of being able to participate in gym, art, and music classes. The half-day students do not get to experience gym, art, or music class. I have seen results first hand because I chose to put my son in a full day kindergarten versus the half-day. I chose to bring my son to a school that is located in Fridley so that he could receive the benefits of the full day kindergarten. The half-day program that Blaine offers has a very undesirable schedule for parents who work. The half-day schedule for Blaine elementary school is full days Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday. I think that the earlier the educational intervention begins the higher the impact and the more likely the effects will be retained. Other than the health of a child, I think that nothing should be more important than their education. Giving children the opportunity to be in a full day kindergarten program gives them opportunities that the half-day students do not receive. One of the opportunities is being able to spend more time on reading, writing, and math. The teachers also have more time to sit one on one with each student one or in small groups and work on these skills. They also have a different theme for each month that they focus on. Some examples of the themes are the solar system, U. S.  presidents, maps, and the celebrations around the world. Children also absorb things more easily when they are younger. Being a mother of a full day kindergarten student, I see the results of the extra reading, writing, and math that the teacher does with him. My son is one of the youngest in his class and he is reading at a first grade level. As for his writing, he attempt to write big words using phonics. For example, I came home one day a few months ago and he had written on his dry erase board â€Å"I see a red ladebug†. He also brought home a worksheet that he had written about his favorite fruits. On this worksheet, he had written â€Å"watrmlon†. As far as his math goes, he is always measuring things in the house with a kid’s yard ruler. The themes that they work on each month give the students the ability to know what is going on in the world around them. My son came home from school one day and told me that there was a planet that was not considered a planet anymore. I did not know this and I was in complete awe. According to Debra Ackerman, â€Å"Children in full day kindergarten programs score higher on their achievement test than those in half-day programs. Full-day kindergarten advocates suggest that a longer school day provides educational support that ensures a productive beginning school experience and increases the chances of future school success. In both full-day and half-day programs, kindergartners spend most of their class time working on reading, language arts, and math activities, but the total number of minutes teachers devote to specific subjects differs. For example, 80 percent of full day but only about 50 percent of half-day programs devote more than 30 minutes each day to mathematics instruction. Sixty-eight percent of full day but only 37 percent of half-day classrooms dedicate at least 60 minutes to reading instruction each day. Perhaps most striking, 79 percent of full-day teachers read aloud to their students every day, compared to 62 percent of half-day teachers. Reading aloud is a critical activity in helping to develop children’s reading skills. Additional research shows children’s literacy learning is enhanced in full-day programs, as the full-day schedule provides a more intensive, ongoing, enriched language and literacy experience for the young child. † (Ackerman) Children in full day kindergarten programs score higher on their achievement test than those in half-day programs. I asked my son’s kindergarten teacher, Ms. Janssen, what the average for reading was for her class. Ms. Janssen stated that the majority of her students are already in the first grade reading level as of the end of the second trimester. As said by the Indiana Association of Public School Super Intendants, â€Å"Full day kindergarten programs are associated with greater reading achievement gains during the kindergarten year than half day programs†. (Plucker, 6) The students are graded on their writing and math abilities as well. According to the Kalamazoo Public Schools reports, â€Å"The group of kindergartners advanced in 2010 to first grade at Kalamazoo Public School, where 60 percent tested at or above the 50th percentile in reading on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills last April. That’s a 7-point increase compared to Kalamazoo Public School first-graders tested in April 2009, Rice said. On the Iowa Test Basic Skills math test, 52 percent of first-graders tested at or above the 50th percentile last spring, a 12-point jump over spring 2009. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills are administered in schools nationwide and is a norm-referenced test, which means scores are based on how students perform compared to other test-takers. The Kalamazoo Public School results show that 60 percent of Kalamazoo students are in the top half of first-graders nationwide in reading and 52 percent are in the top half in math. † (Mack) Children who are in full day kindergarten have better social and behavioral effects than those who are in half-day kindergarten. When children are in school for the full day they have more time to get to know the other students. They get more time to interact together socially and they are learning while they are interacting. The students also get to go to specialists and they go with their classmates. Some of the specialists that Hayes Elementary offers are music, art, Spanish, and gym. Going to the specialist is something that the full day kindergarteners get to do and the half-day kindergarteners do not get to do. These students also get to spend more time with the teacher. This means that they will be less hesitant to approach their teacher. According to Clark, â€Å"Some researchers have examined social and behavioral effects. According to researchers, a clear relationship emerged between the kindergarten schedule and childrens behavior. Teachers rated children in all-day kindergarten programs higher on 9 of the 14 dimensions; there were no significant differences on the other 5 dimensions. Other researchers who have studied social and behavioral outcomes found that children in all-day kindergarten programs were engaged in more child-to-child interactions and they made significantly greater progress in learning social skills†. (Clark) In the kindergarten classrooms of Hayes Elementary, the students get into groups called centers. During this center time, the teacher takes a group of five students to a table to do independent reading and the rest of the students go to a center. The centers are groups of three or four students and the students get to interact socially while doing something educational. Some examples of the centers are writing center, listening center, leapster center, and art center. The writing center is where the students can write freely. The listening center is where the students put on headphones, listen to directions, and write down what they hear. The leapster center is where the students get to play a handheld learning game that integrates math, reading, and spelling in the games. Finally, the art center is where the students get to draw and color what they want. When the time is up the students clean up as groups. A full day of learning offers many social and emotional benefits to kindergarteners. As stated by NEA, â€Å"They have more time to focus and reflect on activities, and they have more time to transition between activities. When children are taught by qualified teachers, using age-appropriate curricula in small classes they can take full advantage of the additional learning time—social, emotional, and intellectual— that a full day allows. Further, research finds that children adjust well to the full-day format. † (NEA) The full day kindergarten teachers plan and use the extra time in class well. The time in class is spent differently in both the full day kindergarten and the half-day kindergarten. According to the research that the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, â€Å"The research provides evidence that time in full day kindergarten programs is different both quantitatively and qualitatively from how time is used in half day programs† (Plucker, ii). Full day kindergarten offers benefits to teachers. Teachers prefer the full day program to the half-day program. If there is a child that is struggling with something, the teacher has the ability to find time to help that student. There is also more time to finish activities. According to Ms. Janssen, â€Å"With the full day program I am able to get through four reading groups versus two reading groups in one day. With the full day program we are able to go more in depth on our unit that we focus on in class. † (Janssen) According to the NEA, â€Å"Switching to full-day kindergarten gave teachers more time to plan the curriculum, incorporate a greater number of thematic units into the school year, and offer more in-depth coverage of each unit. † (NEA) In the half-day programs there is less time for multiple activities. According to Dr. Martinez, â€Å"Many kindergarten teachers favor full day kindergarten because they find it difficult to balance cognitive activities and affective social activities in the short kindergarten day. † (Martinez, 2) Teachers also prefer full day kindergarten because there is more instructional time than that of a half-day kindergarten program. As stated by the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, â€Å" Across all of the schools in the Indiana sample, the proportion of instructional time is similar across program types, resulting in much greater instructional time in full day programs, representing approximately 40-50% more instruction in full day programs than half-day programs†. (Plucker, ii) Teachers also have the benefit of getting to know the students and their parents better. According to Dr. Martinez, â€Å"Teachers state that they have a chance to know children and parents better, to do more individualization of instruction, and to expand the curriculum horizontally. † (Dr. Martinez) There are so many benefits for the children. A very important benefit is that the full day kindergarteners have the opportunity to an easier transition into the first grade because they are already used to the full day schedule. The time that the students get to spend with the teacher is a great benefit as well. The extra time that is spent with the teacher is as much beneficial for the teacher as it is for the students. According to the research from Dr. Martinez, â€Å"Teachers thought children developed closer relationships and were more relaxed in the full-day program and felt more a part of the school. Teachers indicated they were able to give more individual attention to students and that children had more time to develop both academic and socialization skills. Teachers noted they could work more on the continuing development of each child and felt children showed more advancement. Teachers indicated they felt closer to the children and that they got to know both child and family better. Some indicated in the full day they felt more flexible, were more relaxed and spontaneous, and felt better prepared to meet with parents. † (Dr. Martinez, 6) The time that the students get to spend on activities is another great benefit. According to NEA, â€Å"in a study evaluating teachers’ views on full-day kindergarten, teachers reported a number of benefits for themselves as well as children and parents. Participating in full day eased the transition to first grade, helping children adapt to the demand of a six-hour day. Having more time available in the school day offered more flexibility and more time to do activities during free choice times. Having more time actually made the kindergarten program less stressful and frustrating for children because they had time to fully develop an interest in activities. Participating in  the full-day schedule allows more appropriate academic challenges for children at all developmental levels. Children with developmental delays or those at risk for school problems benefited from having more time to complete projects and more time for needed socialization with peers and teachers. † (NEA) Full day kindergarten offers more benefits to the students that are at risk and children that come from educational and economical disadvantaged homes. If the full day kindergarten programs cost money, as most do, they cost around 3000 dollars per child for the year. The 3000 dollars is charged to the parents of the child. The children that come from the educationally and economically disadvantaged homes would not be able to attend because of the cost. These children are the ones that benefit from the program the most. According to the Indiana Superintendents, â€Å"Students at or below the poverty level enrolled in full day kindergarten scored statistically significantly higher in math and reading than their half day counterparts. Poor children enrolled in full day kindergarten programs tested statistically significantly above half day pupils on reading, spatial, and verbal skills, naming colors and letters, and identifying numerals. †(Plucker, 6) Parents prefer full day kindergarten as well. I as a mother prefer the full day kindergarten program to the half-day program. One of the advantages is that I do not have to figure out childcare and who would bring my son to the childcare. Trying to figure out childcare and school between my job schedule would be undesirable. As said by Dr. Martinez, â€Å"Full-day kindergarten saves parents day-care problems, while providing children a comprehensive, developmentally-appropriate program. Parents said that children often feel more stress when they have to go from a school situation to a day-care environment, where different rules and philosophies apply. Therefore, parents favor a full-day program, which reduces the number of transitions kindergartners experience in a typical day. † (Dr. Martinez) Full day kindergarten also takes a huge cost out of many parents’ monthly budget including mine. Even though some people would be against this and say, â€Å"Why would I have to pay for your childcare? † I would say that many parents including myself pay taxes too. Their parents wanted them to have the best education that they could have gotten. Most importantly, I know that my son and many other children are getting the best out of their day while they are in school. They are having fun while they are learning. My son enjoys being in school. If he had a choice, he would go on Saturdays and Sundays. Children attending full day kindergarten spend the day learning instead of watching television or playing video games. Full-day kindergarten provides parents with better support for their children. According to NEA, â€Å"For parents who work outside the home, full-day kindergarten means that children do not have to be shuffled between home, school, and childcare. For all parents, there is more continuity and less disruption in the child’s day and more time for focused and independent learning. One study of parent attitudes found that after the second year of a full-day kindergarten program, 100 percent of full-day parents, and 72 percent of half-day parents noted that, if given the opportunity again, they would have chosen full-day kindergarten for their child†. (NEA). In conclusion, having full day kindergarten should be mandatory. There are many benefits of the full day kindergarten program. The benefits are not limited to the students. Teachers and parents also get great benefits out of the full day program. According to MaryBeth, â€Å"Research has shown that it is important to begin learning early in life. School systems that have implemented the academically based full day kindergarten are finding it to be successful. † (Calvin) If I had to choose again if a child of mine was going to go to full day or half-day kindergarten, I would not even have to think twice. A child’s education should be one of the most important things to think about. These children will be the future and they need a great education to get there. * Works Cited Calvin, MaryBeth. Expectations for Kindergarten in 2010. 3 February 2010. 3 March 2011. http://www. suite101. com/content/expectations-for-kindergarten-in-2010-a196473 Clark, Patricia. Recent Research on All Day Kindergarten. 2004. 4 March 2011. http://www. ericdigests. org/2002-1/kindergarten. html Debra J Ackerman, W. S. Making the Most of Kindergarten. March 2005. 4 March 2011. http://nieer. org/resources/policyreports/report4. pdf Janssen.

How Happy could Gay Men be in a Homophobic Society such as Ours Essay Example for Free

How Happy could Gay Men be in a Homophobic Society such as Ours Essay Homosexuality is no longer an undisclosed idea amongst us, and their existence in our society is no longer a question to be raised. As we know, they enter the same shops we visit every now and then; they ride the same buses and subways we catch; they walk the same streets we tread everyday; they breathe the same air we do, all for one apparent reason: they are no less human than any of us in this society could possibly be. Despite the common knowledge we all have about the existence of these people who suddenly came out from the box, it still raises different reactions from the crowd of the so called â€Å"normal people†Ã¢â‚¬â€as the society itself may refer to it. While others have learned to accept the given fact that there is a possibility of alteration to the socially set standard of normality, such as this one on the area of gender, there are still some who just couldn’t practice the act of coexistence with these so called â€Å"new breeds. There are still people who religiously believe that the defiance of the â€Å"norm† such as crossing from one gender to another is absolutely unacceptable. Given this reality, a lot of attempts have been made to somehow sway these people out of their enclosed bubbles. Even media, one of the most influential elements in our society, took a step further by recognizing the existence of gays and lesbians in their projects themed after differe nt slices of life—like the top notching series Will Grace, and the award-winning movie Philadelphia. With people’s warm embrace with the idea in moving pictures, it seemed no far from the possibility that they could, one way or another, welcome the idea in reality with open arms; the only question remaining is: how wide open could these people extend their arms based on what their televisions feed them? According to Marisa Conolly on her article entitled Homosexuality on Television: The Heterosexualization of Will Grace in Print Media, despite the television show Will Grace’s attempt to promote the â€Å"normality† of the existence of gay men in the society, the show wasn’t able to fully liberate the misunderstood bunch. Intentionally or not, certain limitations have been set by the said show, leaving unnecessary provisions among viewers which they could refer to in terms of classifying homosexuality unacceptable and acceptable for the public’s eyes. Generally, Will, one of the main characters of the said show who happens to play a part of a supposed homosexual, was somehow portrayed in a heterosexual manner; his mere association with Grace, a straight female character, shades the scene to a different color. Their supposed friendship was brought into a different heterosexual border of relationship, wherein platonic is brought into a twisted romantic angle—somehow portraying him caught in between the certainty of homosexuality and the tendency to lean on heterosexuality. Unfortunately, their possible interest to sell is totally negating the promotion of the other, thus making it more complicated for the viewers whether to absorb him as a subtle gay who simply seeks recognition, or as a male, in the middle of an identity crisis, still clinging on the idealism of heterosexuality through tricky dramatization of his relationship with a straight woman. The same idea was raised in the film Philadelphia by Jonathan Demme. On the said movie, instead weighing through the inconsistency of the perceived representation of character, the viewers are simply being caught in the middle of a life and death situation. Instead of making their viewers understand the real score within the extent of reality that the film itself is providing, they are subconsciously redefining pity as a substitute for this understanding. They have misused the forthcoming of death to the gay persona’s advantage by playing on it as if saying: â€Å"Hey, I am dying now of AIDS, and I am gay. Now that I will be leaving this mortal place soon, will you please have the compassion of accepting me for who I really am? † Personally, I don’t think that this is the proper way of educating the people because it is basically misleading. Though the two groups are closely knitted by its constant reception of seclusion from the society, it is unfair to define being gay no different from having AIDS. Being gay is not a deadly viral disease like AIDS; it is simply a way of life that is, more often than not, being misunderstood. Upon watching the film, I was left caught at the vagueness of Denzel Washington’s character. I thought at first that he will be the one responsible to set free Tom Hanks’ character, but by the end of the film, my hopes were dropped on the floor. His supposed homophobia, which I first thought will be the vital element he has as one of the lead character, somehow got lost in the latter part of the story. The issue tackled dealt mainly on Hanks’ viral illness and how most people generally react to it—giving the homosexuality issue, which is more widespread in reality, a weak standpoint. The common ground between the two different portrayals of gay men stated above is its tendency to seek for conditions before actually opening the idea of acceptance. For television sitcom Will Grace, they sought for a subtle way to conform with the â€Å"norms† by partially heterosexualizing the gay character, while for the movie Philadelphia, they played with emotions, most specifically guilt, by bringing into their attention that death is an uneventful future for the character. Basically, in their own particular ways, they are always looking for certain loop holes to pull off gayness acceptable—meaning gayness itself defines no reason to stand on its own. In this case, their uncritical viewers tend to get accustomed in looking for such passages before they actually accept certain circumstances, which unfortunately not every gay man has. In the end, publication of ideas and slices of life such as these only implies that as time passed by the society is still keeping its doors closed to the recognition of homosexuality’s existence. Again it only shows the greatest weakness that any society has: a fear of the â€Å"unordinary. † They are not exactly liberation but rather a form of deception in order to switch the attention of the critical public regarding their claim for ample recognition to homosexuals. None of these moving images placed a dot at the end of the statement â€Å"we accept homosexuality†; instead, they only made the issue more complex than ever by adding up the condition â€Å"if and only if† to the said declaration. If the shows themselves couldn’t accept the fact that gay men exist, how could their viewers do? I could give credit for the attempt pull out gays and lesbians from their malicious-satirical stereotype of simply being unpleasant, loud and mischievous, but still, that doesn’t make it enough for me. Compassion may be the best way to seek approval, but seeking proofs out of the ordinary and passing it off as the best solution is nothing but a substandard achievement. Homosexuality isn’t actually an issue seeking for a special treatment; that will be way too much for a goal now that it couldn’t even reach the approval of being lined up on the average level. All gays and lesbians need is the chance to be treated in a normal way—no more and no less than how people accept heterosexuals—where in they are not shoved away as if they are infectious beasts. Since media started this crooked representation of homosexuality on screen in the first place, I believe that they will be the only one who could correct this. Next time they produce best selling stories about homosexuals on their reels, they should try taking away those â€Å"special cases† that tend to sensationalize their stories—like exploring Will’s manly side as a gay man and Hanks’ incurable illness. If they want to represent gay men as part of the normal sector in our society, then they could probably represent them as simple as being another friendly neighbor from the block without a semi-romantic relationship with a straight female, but rather a nonchalant relationship with another man, or a successful lawyer who need not die at the end of the story just to gain recognition for his success as a lawyer; instead, he could just be another lawyer who saved the day—roles as simple as that, just like most heterosexuals portray. In that way, it will seem to be more realistic and fair for these people who usually live under the shadow of our judgmental society.

Comparison of UK and German Pension Systems

Comparison of UK and German Pension Systems This essay discusses two main questions: i) What are the main factors causing many people not to save towards their retirement, comparing men and women age 18 and over; and ii) Look at the differences between the pension system here in the UK and Germany, and what Germany is doing to make people save more than people save than in the UK. It is clear, across many European countries, that many individuals do not save as much as they could, and, in particular, are not saving adequate amounts towards their retirement. This applies equally for men and women and across many European countries. This problem is, however, particularly marked in the UK, with many individuals either simply not having any pension provisions or not contributing enough in to their pension scheme. In addition, many individuals in the UK simply do not save any proportion of their earnings, and spend as much, if not more, than they earn. This is not the case in Germany: practically every household saves substantial amounts, right up until old age, with only households in the very lowest proportions of the income distribution curve not saving (Borsch-Supan and Essig, 2003). 40% of households in Germany regularly save a fixed amount, with a further 45% saving, but not fixed amounts and not regularly; 25% of Germans save with a fixed savings target in mind, planning their savings towards these aims, with the majority of Germans preferring to cut household consumption, rather than touch their savings, if ends do not meet; indeed, 80% of Germans seldom go negative in their current accounts (Borsch-Supan and Essig, 2003). This is quite different to the pattern in the UK, where personal debt is currently the highest it has been for many decades, and many individuals do not plan for saving with distinct aims in mind, nor save towards any sort of pension scheme, leaving themselves open to problems when they come to retirement age. As shown by the OECD (2002), since 1985, the UK has consistently had a far lower household savings rate than Germany, with Germany averaging around 13.5% of disposable household income being saved, year on year since 1985, and the UK averaging around 5.5%, year on year since 1985 (OECD, 2002). In Germany, as in the UK, there are three main types of pension: state, company and private, with the adoption of private pensions being increasingly encouraged, due to the ageing population in both regions. There are many reasons cited for why people do not save enough towards their retirement, for example, the feeling that ‘I am too young to start saving for my pension’, ‘I don’t earn enough to be able to save for a pension’ or ‘I will get a state pension, so don’t need to worry’. All of these reasons are invalid, if they are studied further, as it is increasingly becoming the responsibility of the individual to provide for their retirement, and so saving for a pension should be a necessary expense; the sooner the individual starts to save, obviously, the more they will have in their pension fund when it comes to retirement age, and the more they will be able to take as a pension when they come to retire. It is thus beneficial fo r individuals to invest in their future, by saving regularly towards their retirement, but this notion does not seem to be as ingrained in the minds of individuals in the UK as it is in Germany. Until recently, 19.5% of incomes from German individuals was generally put towards private pensions, with private pension companies in the UK taking nowhere near this amount; 10-15% is a more normal average amount taken by UK company pension schemes (OECD, 2007). In addition, Germany has one of the highest levels of public spending on pensions in the OECD countries (11.5% of GDP, compared to 4.5% of GDP in the UK (Disney and Johnson, 2001)), although recently Germany has increased the retirement age above the traditional 65 years for men, to 67; a similar rise in the age of retirement from public pension plans has recently occurred in the UK (OECD, 2007). Contribution to private pension plans has the widest coverage in Germany of any OECD country, although the amounts contributed to private pension plans in Germany are low, when compared to the amounts German individuals put in to company pension schemes (OECD, 2007). In addition, fewer German individuals are switching from company p ension schemes to private pension schemes in Germany than in other OECD countries. Indeed, only 39.9% of individuals have switched from company to private pension schemes in Germany, with 53.4% of individuals switching to â€Å"personal account† pensions in the UK (OECD, 2007). Despite the seemingly high switch over from company pension schemes to private or â€Å"personal account† pensions in the UK, the UK government estimates that around 7 million individuals are not saving enough for their retirement, under any scheme, and that an additional 10 million individuals do not save for their retirement via their company pension scheme, which includes an employer contribution of a minimum of 3%. What are the reasons for these differences, and what are the main factors causing many people not to save towards their retirement? What is Germany doing, for example, that encourages more people to save than in the UK? The UK, traditionally, has higher levels of personal debt than Germany, with individuals from both regions having very different attitudes towards spending and saving, and where they choose to invest their savings. In addition, individuals who do save in the UK tend to ‘dip into’ their savings to buy luxury items, whereas German savers tend to leave their savings alone, and to buy luxury items, only when they can afford to do so, when they have saved, specifically, for that item. Given the ageing population, and the fact that not enough people are saving for their retirement, the UK is currently trying to increase saving towards pensions, particularly, with various tax incentives, through private pension taxation schemes and ISAs, for example, and the new ly introduced pension credit schemes. In conclusion, therefore, there seems to be a very negligent attitude towards saving, in general, in the UK, with saving for retirement being particularly neglected; Germany, on the other hand, with its tradition of low personal debt, and high household savings, has a high coverage of individuals saving towards their retirement, mostly through company, or, increasingly, private pension schemes. References Borsch-Supan, A. and Essig, L. (2003). Household saving in Germany: results of the first SAVE study. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 9902. Available from http://www.nber.org/papers/w9902 [Accessed 28th October 2008]. Disney, D. and Johnson, M. (2001). Pension systems and retirement incomes across OECD countries. Edward Elgar. OECD (2002). Household savings rates by country from 1985 through 2004 forecast. OECD Economic Outlook. OECD (2007). Pensions at a glance – public policies across OECD countries 2007 Edition. Available from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/42/38728511.pdf [Accessed on 28th October 2008].

The Insanity Defense Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Insanity Defense Former U.S president Ronald Reagan was shot by a man named John Hinckley in the year 1981. The president along with many of his entourage survived the shooting despite the heavy infliction of internal and external injuries. The Hinckley case is a classic example of the 'not guilty by reason of insanity' case (NGRI). The criminal justice system under which all men and women are tried holds a concept called mens rea, a Latin phrase that means "state of mind". According to this concept, Hinckley committed his crime oblivious of the wrongfulness of his action. A mentally challenged person, including one with mental retardation, who cannot distinguish between right and wrong is protected and exempted by the court of law from being unfairly punished for his/her crime. (1) What is "insanity" and why is this subject of much controversy? Although I do not have a clear definition of insanity, most socially recognized authorities such as psychiatrists, medical doctors, and lawyers agree that it is a brain disease. However, in assuming it is a brain disease, should we link insanity with other brain diseases like strokes and Parkinsonism? Unlike the latter two, whose causes can be medically accounted for through a behavioral deficit such as paralysis, and weakness, how can one explain the behavior of crimes done by people like Hinckley? (2) Much of my skepticism over the insanity defense is how this act of crime has been shifted from a medical condition to coming under legal governance. The word "insane" is now a legal term. A nuerological illness described by doctors and psychiatrists to a jury may explain a person's reason and behavior. It however seldom excuses it. The most widely known rule in... ... a reversible state. When the defendant no longer tests positive in legal tests, an insane person miraculously becomes sane. Unfortunately, the same law does not account or recognize the physical, emotional or psychological states that may or may not be reversible. Works Cited: 1)All About the Insanity Defense, Mark Godo http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal%5Fmind/ 2) Does Insanity "Cause" crime? : Thomas Szasz, M.D., The Myth of Mental Illness (1960) 3)M'Naghten Rule http://www.law.cornell.edu/journals.html 4)The Yates case: Commentary for United Press International; Susan Crump is a former prosecutor for Houston http://www.geocities.com/mental_illness 5) Donald E. Watson, MD taught and did research in nueropsychology, teaches at UC Irvine Medical School. http://www.enformy.com/ 6) Statistics http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal%5Fmind/ The Insanity Defense Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays The Insanity Defense Former U.S president Ronald Reagan was shot by a man named John Hinckley in the year 1981. The president along with many of his entourage survived the shooting despite the heavy infliction of internal and external injuries. The Hinckley case is a classic example of the 'not guilty by reason of insanity' case (NGRI). The criminal justice system under which all men and women are tried holds a concept called mens rea, a Latin phrase that means "state of mind". According to this concept, Hinckley committed his crime oblivious of the wrongfulness of his action. A mentally challenged person, including one with mental retardation, who cannot distinguish between right and wrong is protected and exempted by the court of law from being unfairly punished for his/her crime. (1) What is "insanity" and why is this subject of much controversy? Although I do not have a clear definition of insanity, most socially recognized authorities such as psychiatrists, medical doctors, and lawyers agree that it is a brain disease. However, in assuming it is a brain disease, should we link insanity with other brain diseases like strokes and Parkinsonism? Unlike the latter two, whose causes can be medically accounted for through a behavioral deficit such as paralysis, and weakness, how can one explain the behavior of crimes done by people like Hinckley? (2) Much of my skepticism over the insanity defense is how this act of crime has been shifted from a medical condition to coming under legal governance. The word "insane" is now a legal term. A nuerological illness described by doctors and psychiatrists to a jury may explain a person's reason and behavior. It however seldom excuses it. The most widely known rule in... ... a reversible state. When the defendant no longer tests positive in legal tests, an insane person miraculously becomes sane. Unfortunately, the same law does not account or recognize the physical, emotional or psychological states that may or may not be reversible. Works Cited: 1)All About the Insanity Defense, Mark Godo http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal%5Fmind/ 2) Does Insanity "Cause" crime? : Thomas Szasz, M.D., The Myth of Mental Illness (1960) 3)M'Naghten Rule http://www.law.cornell.edu/journals.html 4)The Yates case: Commentary for United Press International; Susan Crump is a former prosecutor for Houston http://www.geocities.com/mental_illness 5) Donald E. Watson, MD taught and did research in nueropsychology, teaches at UC Irvine Medical School. http://www.enformy.com/ 6) Statistics http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal%5Fmind/

Why Build Solar? Essay -- Essays Papers

Why Build Solar? The question is, â€Å"why utilize the solar energy for our homes that is given from an existing power source for free?† A simple answer could be because the source of power in the long run is for free. The truth to the statement is nothing is for free because taking advantage of the sun does require some effort, but there certainly isn’t as much effort compared to the energy sources that we use today. More importantly there aren’t any severe consequences left for the environment during the process. The more learning and the more realization of how fast the quality of life is depreciating environmentally conscious citizens look to others observing ignorance for failing to come to the same standards of view. Utilization of solar energy can be very inexpensive, making several techniques feasible for today’s homeowner. The problem is the majority of the worlds population don’t see the benefit to the environment on themselves. Throughout history the sun has been a utilized asset to civilization. The Greek have spread their building far enough apart facing south to utilize the sun’s heat, accepting the sun through large entries of the villas. They even used transparent windows to decrease the rate of solar escape. During the 1500’s the Dutch used canvas and double-pane glass to further contain the heat. In the early 19th century they used green houses to capture heat as they opened up vents to warm the main house. Other forms of solar transfer were becoming more prominent, evaporation contained and used as a water pump. Minds were heavily looking into further use of the suns power. Leaps were taking when Walker showed how a solar water heater could be connected to an auxiliary heat source. To further add ... .... Close the shades of your home to help prevent the heat from escaping. Plant deciduous trees where the sun shines the most on your home. If building a home, face it south to receive the sun the most. These methods have some how been avoided for some time. It truly is unfortunate that the only way there will be a change in the use of energy is because oil prices are exploding, oil supply is diminishing, and most likely economics will eventually create the change because solar will be cheap. The future is efficiency because the world doesn’t have a choice or we’ll be consumed by or own pollution. The climate change and greenhouse gases are pointing towards an environmentally safe use of energy. Insulation will become more technologically sound. Windows currently are expensive but strongly efficient. The world has no choice if it intends on to stay living.

Legalizing Marijuana Will Decreased Crime Essay -- legalization of cann

Marijuana is the cause of much commotion and debating, as the question of legalization becomes more of an issue. Drugs are a major influential force in countries all over the world today. Legalization is an option that has not had a chance, but really should be given one. Although many people feel that legalizing marijuana would increase the amount of drug use, legalization would benefit for the following reasons: 1)reduction of money spent on law enforcement 2)increase in the countries revenue 3)lessen crime 4)useful in treating certain medical conditions. Many feel today we are loosing the war on drugs. People consider legalization unnecessary. They feel that it will increase the amount of drug use throughout the world. They state that in many cases, drug users who have quit quit because of trouble with the law. Legalization would eliminate the legal forces that discourage the users from using or selling drugs. They also say that by making drugs legal, the people who have never tried drugs for fear of getting caught by the law will have no reason to be afraid anymore and will become users (Potter 1998). However, legalization will be profitable to global economies in two ways. It will allow for money spent on drug law enforcement to be spent more wisely and will increase revenue. There have been escalating costs spent on the war against drugs and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation. Every year in the United States, ten billion dollars are spent on enforcing drug laws alone. Drug violators accounted for about forty percent of all criminals in federal prisons (Rosenthal 1996). In 1989, a Republican county executive of Mercer County, N.J., estimated that it would cost approximately one   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   billion dollars to build the jail space required to house all the drug users in Trenton alone (Roffman 1982). All of this money could be spent on things of greater importance. Not only has the drug problem increased, but the drug related problems are on the rise. Drug abuse is a killer worldwide. Some are born addicts (crack babies), while others develop addictions later in life. Drug violators are a major cause of extreme overcrowding in US prisons. In 1992, 59,000 inmates were added to make a record setting 833,600 inmates nationwide (Rosenthal 1996). A high percentage of these prisoners were serving time because of drug related incid... ... decided that it is a valid and necessary solution to our countries drug problem. By implementing such a program the American population can use its money and resources to combat the problem through the legal system. Legalization will decrease violent crime associated with drug dealers, it will decrease the number of users and will lower the wasteful cost which is connected with the current system. Such legalization will not destroy our youth in any way and will only be accessible to adults in the country. If we continue with our current system we will never solve the problem. Drug dealers and addicts will crown our prisons and plague our streets. Bibliography 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friedman, Milton. â€Å"Prohibition and Drugs.† Newsweek. 1972 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Potter, Beverly The Healing Magic of Cannabis Ronin Publishing’s, Inc. CA 1998 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Randell, Robert C The Patients Fight for Medicinal Pot Thunders Mouth Press, NY 1998 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Roffman, Roger A Marijuana as Medicine Madrona Publishers, Inc., WA 1982 5) Rosenthal, Ed Why Marijuana Should be Legal Thunders Mouth Press, NY 1996

The Usefulness of Traditional and New Performance Measures Used in Nigerian Companies

USEFULNESS OF TRADITIONAL AND NEW PERFORMANCE MEASURES: SOME EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIAN COMPANIES BY DR. (MRS. ) S. L. ADEYEMI DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a survey on the usefulness of selected traditional and new performance measures used in some Nigeria companies that have adopted a flexible manufacturing strategy. The results indicate that majority of these companies considered the new performance measures useful particularly among the larger companies and among those with 5 years or less of business experience.Traditional measures are still useful, though to a much lesser extent. These results suggest that a combination of both traditional and new measures would be needed especially when Nigeria companies are going through the transition of implementing changes to their strategies from cost leadership to flexible manufacturing. INTRODUCTION The combination of slower economic growth and increased competition ha s forced firms in every industry to concentrate on efficient and effective deployment of resources. One result of these efforts has been the emergence of a new corporate position devoted to controllership.The controller is concerned with continuous measurement of a firm’s performance. In order to carry out the measurement process, controllership focuses on the assessment of resources deployment and goal attainment Numerous research initiatives have identified the high correlation between superior performances and the development and use of sophisticated assessment or measurement capabilities. As early as 1985, A. T. Kuarney Consultants noticed that firm engaging in comprehensive performance realized improvements in overall productivity in the range of 14 to 22 percent.Effort has been expended by establishments to improve the quality of information that their managers have at their disposal to measure, compare and guide performance. In most firms in Nigeria the traditional for mats and travel reports are still in used. TRADITIONAL AND MODERN MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE: AN OVERVIEW OF A REVIEW The traditional performance measurement system has been designed to report labour productivity, machine and capacity utilization, and standard cost variances.These are cost-efficiency-based measures derived from a strategy to minimize production costs, described as a cost leadership strategy, which is characterized by mass production of a new standard products musing stable technology (hall, 1980; Kaplan. 1986). The modern manufacturing environment has undergone dramatic changes since the past decades mainly because of intensive global competition, shifts in customer’s buying behaviour, and rapid innovation in manufacturing and information technology product.A cost-minimization and mass production strategy is no longer compatible with this new manufacturing scenario. Instead, issues such as responsiveness to customer needs, improving quality, reducing lead times, technological innovation and enhancing production flexibility have emerged as strategically more important to maintain competitiveness. Direct attention to these issues is the essence of a flexible manufacturing strategy. (Nemetz and Fry, 1988). Despite this strategic re-orientation among the more progressive companies, performance measurement systems have not kept pace with the change.The theory of organizational lag has been involved to explain this lag in making changes. The theory of organizational lag has been involved to explain this lag in making changes to management accounting systems of which performance system forms a part. According to this theory, administrative innovations in management accounting (and performance) systems tend to lag behind the technical innovations of manufacturing. This is because the potential benefits of administrative innovations are less certain and are likely to take more time to have any recognizable impact (Dunk, 1989).Failure to make comple mentary changes in the performance measurement system to fit with the company’s new flexible manufacturing strategy may lead to dysfunctional consequences. As pointed out by Howell and Soucy, (1987). â€Å"The manufacturing transformation in many companies has been slowed, if not set back, as antiquated sets of operating performance yardsticks promote inaccurate analysis, poor operating decisions, and inappropriate resource allocations†.This paper reviews traditional financial measures of performance and discussed the potential benefits of incorporating new performance measures into the performance measurement system. The usefulness of these measures was empirically tested using a sample of Nigerian Companies that have adopted flexible manufacturing strategy. The bulk of responding companies came from the electronic and other high technology product industries (60%) Business experience was categorized into groups, as follows: 5 years and below (7. 5%( > 5-10 years (22. 5%) and > 10 years (50%).TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES Traditional performance measures have been developed to meet the needs of manufacturing characterized by the production of standard products with high direct labour contest. Set ups are minimized to assure uninterrupted production runs. In this way, labour and machine capacities can be fully utilized and the greatest possible output produced with a consequent reduction in the overhead cost per unit of output. The competitive strategy is cost minimization, so variance reporting, overhead absorption and capacity utilization measures appropriately reflect this strategy.Variance Reporting: The use of variance accounting for managerial performance evaluation has been criticized as counter-effective in the modern global environment (Howell & Soucy, 1987). This is because traditional variance analysis encourages dysfunctional behaviours such as allowing inventory to build up so as to show a favourable volume variance, and delaying machine maintenance, padding the budget or shifting expenses between accounts so as to show a favourable expenses variance.Purchasing managers, for example, may act dysfunctionally by purchasing materials based on lowest price considerations at the expense of quality so as to show a favourable materials price variance. The consequences of inferior quality materials purchased are manifested in increased reworks, scraps, inspections and storage of defective parts leading to higher production costs and loss of competitiveness. The volume variance as a manufacturing indicator has been criticized since traditional absorption costing encourages excessive production in order to absorb the fixed overheads into inventory costs.Maximizing capacity utilization is necessary to achieve cost minimization. However, such a policy is short-sighted because any production in excess of market demand must be consigned to inventory and this runs counter to the just-in-time philosophy of maintaining a zer o inventory with all its attendant benefits (Sadhwani, et al, 1985). Variance reports at the manager’s level are also too aggregated for meaningful interpretation. Moreover, the standard cost itself may be perceived the norm eliminating any incentive for product innovation.In this case an unintended signal has been put out which impede efforts to infuse a culture of continuous improvement. Capacity utilization measures productivity improvement, automation and robotics have shrank direct labour cost to only a small fraction of the total manufacturing cost, whereas overheads have increased significantly. Despite these developments and the consequent impact on cost structures, reports from surveys in various countries indicated that companies have not responded in tandem with the technological changes (Schoch, et al. , 1994; Teoh, 1991).This has serious implications for production costing and performance evaluation as the continued focus on direct labour means labour is still co nsidered a major driver of costs when it is no longer relevant. The result is the development of burden rates that are volume-driven, based on a diminished direct labour element. Such a computed burden rate is artificially inflated due to the small direct labour base. Hen applied to an increasing pool of overheads, the incurrence of which may not be totally volume-driven, the labour generated burden rate can lead to serious distortions of the overheads absorbed into production cost.This is because of the unrealistic burden rate used which does not reflect the actual consumption of overheads by different products or processes (Kaplan, 1986). The overhead absorption measure gives rise to a distorted product cost analysis, so â€Å"good’ performance is associated with products apparently showing profitable margins but are actually incurring loses (Beckett & Dang, 1992). Thus an incorrect signal about profitability is receivedEarned hours, as a measure of labour efficiency, is a lso deficient since it provides an erroneous signal to supervisors to maximize earned hours by keeping employees â€Å"gainfully† occupied regardless of market conditions. It would have been more beneficial in the long term to use the time for training or cross training of operators so as to upgrade their skills. The machine utilization rate, as a measure of supervisory performance, also suffers from a number of deficiencies. It encourages the excessive use of machines for large-scale production, resulting in an unwidely accumulation of inventory.Worse still, maximizing the utilization rate encourages continuous machine usage at the expense of regular maintenance. Moreover, the focus on utilization may lead to inadequate emphasis on quality. Short-term Financial Measures: Although achieving profit and an acceptable return on investment are the raison d’etre for a company to stay in business, the traditional focus on these performance measures however encourages manager s to take a myopic view that emphasizes short-term results to the detriment of long-term profitability (Banks & Wheelwright, 1979).This is the â€Å"gaming† effect where management manipulates accounting figures to show favourable results or alternatively, builds in slack to ensure that budget targets (Merchant, 1985) are met. Reliance on short-term financial measures can lead to dysfunctional decisions since these indications fail to signal the erosion of a firm’s value if discretionary expenditures have to be reduced for short-term gains. Such spending is fact essential for new products development production process improvement, worker skills training and upgrading distribution networks and promoting customer awareness (Kaplan, 1986).Furthermore, profit measures represent outcomes that may not fully reflect management’s effort (Drucker, 1964). Stated differently, total performance cannot be completely captured by Naira profits. NEW PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OBJ ECTIVES In the new technological environment, a flexible manufacturing strategy must be implemented that focuses on customer responsiveness, quality, time, innovation and human resources practices. A performance measurement system designed to achieve the traditional objective of cost efficiency will be incongruent with this new strategy.It is necessary to redesign the system so as to reflect this change in strategic objectives. Customer Responsiveness: increasingly, customers demand not only a better service but also a wider variety of products with improved quality and shorter delivery times (Northey, 1991). Customer responsiveness examines a firm’s relative ability to satisfy customers. Therefore, high customer responsiveness translates into greater customer retention, leading to longer-term.Profitability as the costs of acquiring and serving customers come down. Customers’ responsiveness measures therefore must be designed into the performance measure system. These include reporting on the number of customer complaints, warranty claims, and on-time deliveries, among others. As Eccles (1991) put it bluntly â€Å"what you measure is what you get and what you measure gets attention†, indicating that performance measures must be relevant to send the right signals for employees to achieve desired company objectives.For example, a system that evaluates how well customer demands have been satisfied can better support efforts in achieving sustainable competitive advantage than one that emphasizes labour or machinery efficiency in internal operations (Beckette & Dang, 19910, Goldhar & Lei 1991). Quality: Quality measures, which are the most process-oriented evaluations are designed to determine the effectiveness of a series of activities rather than the individual activity. Quality refers to the degree to which a product’s specific features in terms of workmanship; durability and so on satisfy the requirements of a particular customer.Poo r quality can contribute to a significant increase in the manufacturing costs in various ways. As Howell and Soucy (1997) stated: â€Å"The absence of good materials, highly-trained labour, and well-maintained equipment will dramatically increase the costs of non quality such as scrap, rework, excess inventories, process and equipment: breakdowns, field serves, and warranty claims. However, quality is usually difficult to measure because of the broad scope. A contemporary measurement concept that is increasing in interest is â€Å"the perfect order†.Delivery of the perfect order is the ultimate measure of quality operations. The perfect order represents ideal performance from an operational perspective, a multi-industry consortium defines the perfect order as one that meets the complete delivery of all items requested, delivery customer’s request date with one-day tolerance, complete and accurate documentation supporting the order and perfect condition, that is, fault lessly installed, correct configuration, customer-ready with no damage. Operational and financial measurers to monitor quality include the manufacturing quality index (i. . defect rates), inventory levels, warranty claims, vendor quality, cost of quality and scrap cost. All these provide valuable feedback for identifying existing problems and assessing whether the quality objective is adequately meet. Time: Reducing level times is also of the new manufacturing strategy through out, (manufacturing cycle) time measures the amount of time required to convert raw materials into completed products. Cycle time is the total value from the issue of materials into production to the delivery of the final products to customers.The theory is that the cost of a product is related to the time required to produce it. Cycle time variance therefore provides useful information about non-value-adding activities such as moving, inspecting, reworking, storing and waiting, that added to production costs as overhead charges but no value to customers (Alexander et al, 1991). Using throughput and cycle times as performance measures help managers to eliminate these non-value adding activities, considered as waste time, and achieve substantial cost savings.Thus, according to Lippa (1990); Shorter cycle times can result in less finished goods inventory, less forecast reliance, strategic capability when a firm reacts to customer demands faster than the competition and the ability to exploit opportunities). Innovation in today’s competitive environment companies must continuously engage in product improvement be designing new and improved products with unique characteristics valued by customers. Only in this way are companies able to enlarge their market share and maintain a competitive edge.Introducing technological innovation and advanced design features into new products is costly initially and requires operational flexibility; unlike cycle have unique characteristics (Ainikal & Teo, 1992) that will require performance measures tailored for this purpose such as turnover by products and product cost improvement. Human Resources: The benefit of adopting a long-term employment policy is a loyal and committed workforce, resulting in productivity increases, reduced training costs, and improved customer services since this is provided by long-serving, presumably more experienced and better-informed employees.A performance measure such as employee turnover is needed to help management assess an enterprise’s human resource availability and capabilities. It is against this background that the present study has been conducted. In Nigeria, the trend toward high technology manufacturing is a recent event, partly motivated by rising costs and partly encouraged by the Government as a strategy to maintain a sustainable competitive edge. As companies automate or adopt advanced manufacturing technology, complementary changes in performance measurement systems must be implemented to reflect the new manufacturing environment.The following sections presented the results of a recent empirical study CASE STUDY METHOD A questionnaire survey design was employed as an exploratory case study. The sample was drawn from a cross-section of companies in Nigeria that have implemented or are implementing changes in their production processes. Respondents were asked to consider the usefulness of selected performance measures. Usefulness has been operationalized as the frequency of use of each measure. Based on a total of 200 questionnaires distributed, 36 useable replies were received, given a response rate of 18 percent.Response rates of this level were consistent with previous other studies of Ghosen el al, 1992 Petzall el. Al, 1991. Responding companies were classified by size musing sales turnover as the proxy measure, as follows: N20million and below (7. 5%), > N20 million – N100 million (17. 5%) > N100 million (75%). It was not surprising to find a higher percentage of response from the larger companies, because previous studies have found size as important determinant for a company to adopt a flexible manufacturing strategy (Schoch, el. l, 1994). EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Table 1 shows that at least 63 percent of respondents indicated their dissatisfaction with the existing performance measure system. As more and more companies turn to automation or other advanced technology for their manufacturing processes, it is not unexpected that performance measures originally designed for a labour intensive environment will no longer be appropriate.What is noteworthy is that 37 percent of respondents reported that they were either satisfied with the existing system (26%) or not sure see any need for significant changes to the system (11%). Many of such companies are currently going through the different stages of implementing changes to their manufacturing processes. So it may not be surprising that 37 percent continue to rel y on the traditional measures. TABLE 1 OVERALL RESPONSE TO TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE |FREQUENCY (EXPRESSED AS %) | |Satisfied |26 | |Did not see any significant change needed |11 | |Dissatisfied |63 | |Total |100 | Table 2 presents findings on the usefulness of selected traditional performance measures. These results are consistent with the overall findings above. For example, for five of the eight measures, the percentage of respondents indicating â€Å"useful† is also lower, ranging from 61. 3 percent for standard cost overhead to 41. 4 percent for earned hours, and these correspond to the overall 63 percent who expressed dissatisfaction with traditional measures.As earlier indicated, not all companies have fully automated, so some traditional measures have been regarded as still useful, such as purchase price variance reported by 86. 7 percent. TABLE 2 USEFULNESS OF TRADITIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES | |Useful |Not or Less Useful | |Materials price variance |86. 7% |13. 3% | |Standard cost overhead |61. 3% |38. 7% | |Scrap factor built into standard overhead |51. 6% |48. % | |Labour Reporting |58. 6% |41. 4% | |Earned Hours |41. 4% |58. 6% | |Machine Utilization |78. 8% |21. 2% | |Net Income |85. 7% |14. 3% | |Return on Investment (total assets) |50. 0% |50. % | |Average |64. 1% |35. 9% | The new performance measures presented in Table 3 relate to customer responsiveness, quality, time, innovation and human resources factors, reflecting the strategic objectives of the new manufacturing environment. There is overwhelming evidence that these measurers were found to be â€Å"useful† by most respondents. The overall average of 83. 7 percent compares favourably against the 64. 1 percent for the traditional measures. TABLE 3 USEFULNESS OF NEW PERFORMANCE MEASURE |Useful |Not or Less Useful | |Customer Complaints |88. 6% |11. 4% | |Warranty Claims |75. 8% |24. 2% | |On-time Delivery |93. 9% |6. 1% | |Manufacturing Quality Index |82. 4 % |17. % | |Inventory Levels |88. 9% |11. 1% | |Vendor Quality |84. 8% |15. 2% | |Cost of Quality |84. 4% |15. 6% | | Scrap Naira |85. 7% |14. 3% | |Throughput Time |91. 2% |8. % | |Cycle Time |78. 1% |21. 9% | |Waste Time |72. 7% |27. 3% | |Product Cost Improvement |70. 0% |30. 0% | |Inventory Turnover |88. 2% |11. 8% | |Turnover of Products |78. 8% |21. % | |Employee Turnover |86. 1% |13. 9% | |Average |83. 7% |16. 3% | Cross-tabulation analyses were performed by company size and years of experience in business. Only significant results have been reported in Table 4 and 5. Larger companies found four specific new performance measures more useful than the smaller companies. On-time deliveries (X2 = 7. 92, df = 2, p < . 05); inventory levels (X2 = 5. 98, df = 2, p < . 05); throughput time (X2 = 9. 80, df = 2, p < . 1) and inventory turnover to be the forerunners in implementing technological innovations, and so find new performance measures more appropriate. Smaller companie s tend to lag behind in implementing changes, so adoption of these new measures is not as widespread. In table 5 significant results were found for vendor quality (X2 = 6. 32, df = 2, p < . 05) and throughput time (X2 = 5. 00, df = 2, p < . 10). Companies with 5 years or less in business reported the new measures as useful compared to companies in the other categories, especially in regard to vendor quality longer established companies have developed special relationship with selected vendors and, consequently, vendor quality is no longer of major concern.In contrast, more recently established companies need to identify vendors who can meet the more stringent demands in high-tech manufacturing, such as just-in-time deliveries and supply of quality materials. TABLE 4 CHI-SQUARE TESTS FOR NEW PERFORMANCE MEASURES BY COMPANY SIZE |Company Size |On-time Deliveries |Inventory Levels |Throughput Time |Inventory Turnover | |N20m & below | | | | | |Useful |66. 7% |66. 7% |66. 7% |66. 7% | | Not Useful |33. 3% |33. 3% |33. 3% |33. % | |>N20m-N100m | | | | | |Useful |85. 7% |71. 4% |71. 4% |71. 4% | |Not Useful |14. 3% |28. 6% |28. 6% |28. 6% | |>N100m | | | | | |Useful |100. 0% |96. 7% |75. 0% |96. 7% | |Not Useful |0. % |3. 3% |25. 0% |3. 3% | TABLE 5 CHI-SQUARE TESTS FOR NEW PERFORMANCE MEASURES BY YEARS IN BUSINESS |Years in Business |Vendor Quality |Throughput Time | |5 YEARS | | | |Useful |100. 0% |100. 0% | |Not Useful |0. 0% |0. % | |>5 YEARS – 10 YEARS | | | |Useful |88. 89% |77. 8% | |Not Useful |11. 11% |22. 2% | |>10 YEARS | | | |Useful |60. 0% |100. 0% | |Not Useful |40. 0% |0. 0% | CONCLUSION AND SUMMARYEffective performance measurement and controllership are necessary to locate and monitor resources. As competency becomes a more critical factor in creating and maintaining competitive advantage greater attention must be given to strategic issues concerning customer responsiveness, quality, time, innovation and human resources factors than a cost-mi nimization mass-production strategy, in order that companies can remain competitive. To this end, a performance measurement system capable of meeting these strategic objectives also must be in place. This study reported the findings of a survey on the usefulness of selected traditional and new performance measures used by Nigerian companies that have adopted flexible manufacturing strategy.The results indicated that the majority of these companies considered the new performance measures useful particularly among the larger companies and among those with 5 years or less of business experience. 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